]]>Washington, DC — Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, applauded today’s ruling by the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County allowing the Maryland Dream Act to be subject to referendum on the 2012 ballot (John Doe, et al., v. Maryland State Board of Elections, (No. 02-C-11-163050)). Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton issued the following statement:

This is a tremendous victory for anyone concerned about using tax dollars to subsidize the education of illegal alien lawbreakers. We are thrilled that the voters of Maryland will have the final say on the Maryland DREAM Act.

Illegal alien activists failed in their attempt use the courts to push their unpopular and radical agenda. American citizens are fed up with taxpayer-funded policies to benefit illegal aliens. We expect that the vote in November will put a stop to this effort to help illegal aliens at the expense of law-abiding Americans and residents.

The MDPetitions.com group is represented by Judicial Watch. The chairman of MDPetitions.com is Maryland Assembly Delegate Neil Parrott of Washington County; Delegate Patrick McDonough of Baltimore and Harford Counties is its honorary chairman.

The Maryland DREAM Act was enacted by the Maryland General Assembly and signed by Governor Martin O’Malley on May 10, 2011. The law creates a new taxpayer-subsidized tuition policy — the ability to pay reduced tuition rates at Maryland community colleges and public higher education institutions — for certain eligible illegal aliens. The MDPetitions.com petition drive collected 132,071 signatures, nearly twice the amount required by law to put the new benefit to voters in a referendum. Illegal aliens and the activist group Casa de Maryland challenged the petition drive in court in order to protect taxpayer dollar subsidies for the college tuition for certain illegal aliens.